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An inexpensive kit for drafting A large sheet of plywood and a few commonly available tools are all you need to make accurate full-size drawings. with various shapes cut into it. By covering the portion of the line that you want to save with the erasing shield, you can erase the exposed part and clean up unsightly stray lines with a white plastic eraser. Then there is the pencil lead that you use. Brush My mechanical pencil can hold any grade of lead. My choice is No. 4 hard lead, which is not likely to smear but still makes a clear line. If you use a pencil like this, you will need a lead pointer, which is a fancy term for a special sharpener. If you happen to remove the drawing Flexible ship curves from the board and discover that you need to add something, you can place the paper back on the board, match any horizontal line with the T-square edge and tape the drawing back in place. Mechanical pencil Erasing shield Compass plastic eraser 30-60-90 triangle Designing a side table in three views To help you understand the drawing process and its advantages, I'll draw (and design) a basic side table with a curved front and sides. There are many design and construction decisions to make on a table like this-overall proportions, curves, tapers, joinery-and all of these details can be drawn on paper before making the first cut in valuable stock. Once I have the paper taped to the board, the best place to start is the floor. A simple horizontal line, a couple of inches up from the bottom of the paper, does the trick. From here, I think about the overall dimensions of the table: height, width and depth. The height is based on the type of table it is. I draw a light, horizontal line at 29 in. to 30 in., the standard height for a side table, which most likely will have ' a vase or lamp on it. These two lines are the beginning of the front and side views. ext, in the space above the front view, I draw a light rectangle that represents the size of the tabletop. This is the top, or plan, view. These few lines establish the overall size. Halfviews are enough-Once I am happy with the proportions, I pencil in the centerline on the plan view and carry it down to the front view. On 1110St pieces of furniture, including this one, only a half view is necessary for the front and plan views. I Drafting board 70 FI WOODWORKING dra w everything to tlle left of tlle centerline. The side view will show tlle entire piece.